The consolidation of the global cement sector continued in 2017 after a busy 2015 and 2016. CRH has continued to grow, with two major acquisitions in the US. HeidelbergCement, fresh from its acquisition of Italcementi, has bought up Cementir Italia, while assets have also changed hands in South Korea, Germany, Belgium and India. There is also the question of which company will end up with PPC’s assets in South Africa. Prior to the release of the final print version of the Global Cement Directory 2018, we present a run down of the top cement-producing nations and cement producers as they stand at the start of the New Year.

Introduction

Cement-producing countries and territories

There were 159 countries and territories that produced cement, either in integrated cement facilities or via grinding imported clinker, in 2017, according to the Beta (digital pre-print) version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. The cement-producing countries and territories are shown in Figure 1, colour-coded by total cement capacity. Between them, they share a total integrated cement capacity of 2.49Bnt/yr, excluding China (for which capacity data is unreliable). Of the 159, 141 produce clinker and 18 countries only grind imported clinker.

For comparison, the comparable data presented in our December 2016 issue showed that there was a total of 158 countries and territories making cement and clinker, with a total integrated and grinding cement capacity of 2.69Bnt/yr, excluding China. Of the 158 countries and territories listed a year ago, 143 produced clinker and 15 only ground imported clinker.

Cement-producing companies

The Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018 lists 671 companies that produced cement in 2017 (outside of China), either from integrated plants or grinding plants. Of these, 574 produced clinker and 97 produced cement from clinker obtained from other cement producers.

For comparison, the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2017 listed 659 companies that produced cement in 2016 (outside of China), either from integrated plants or grinding plants. Of these, 582 produced clinker and 77 produced cement from clinker obtained from other cement producers.

Cement-producing plants

There are 2087 cement plants listed outside of China in the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018, with a further 861 in China. Of those outside of China, 1523 were integrated facilities and 564 were grinding plants. For comparison there was a total of 2021 cement plants listed outside of China in the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2017, with a further 803 in China. Of those outside of China, 1469 were integrated facilities and 552 were grinding plants.

Top 10 cement producing countries

The Top 10 cement producing companies are shown below, listed according to the listed cement capacity provided by the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. The totals include integrated and grinding cement production capacity known to be operating at the end of November 2017. The totals do not include plants under construction, those currently being commissioned or those listed in the directory as ‘planned.’

1. China

As for many years now, China was the largest cement producer by installed capacity and production in 2017. The Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018 lists 804 integrated plants and 57 grinding plants, with a combined capacity in excess of 1.5Bnt/yr. However, the sheer scale of the industry and the apparent unreliability of Chinese statistics means that the true capacity is likely to be far higher. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) gives a capacity of 2.5Bnt/yr for China and some sources place Chinese cement production capacity as high as 3.5Bnt/yr. However large it may be, the Chinese cement market is almost entirely dominated by large domestic suppliers, with little influence from established multinational players.

In the first eight months of 2017, Chinese cement production fell by 0.5% year-on-year to 1.5Bnt in the first eight months of 2017. This compares to a rise of 2.5% in the same period in 2016, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). If extrapolated forward based on the 2.40Bnt of cement produced in 2016, this suggests total production of around 2.38Bnt for China in 2017.

As of March 2017, the NDRC was reported to be considering a 10% cut in national cement production. The Chinese state planning body announced on 6 March 2017 that it was pushing to cut production capacity in a number of industries including coal, steel and cement. Cement was slated for a 10% cut in production but the methodology and timescale for this were not clarified. However, large-scale mergers could be in the pipeline and some smaller producers could be forced to close. Some Provinces have already demolished significant numbers of cement plants in order to scale their capacities back towards more appropriate levels.

2. India

As in 2016, India was the second-largest cement producer by installed cement capacity in 2017. It had 322.0Mt/yr of integrated capacity across 163 plants, plus 103 grinding plants that contributed a total of more than 101Mt/yr. This gives India a total of 423Mt/yr of cement capacity. The USGS reports that India produced 290Mt/yr of cement in 2016, with figures for 2017 to be published in the New Year.

The Indian cement sector predominantly comprises large domestic players such as UltraTech Cement, Dalmia Bharat and Chettinad Cement. Multinationals are present through locally-branded subsidiaries such as ACC and Ambuja Cements, which are owned by LafargeHolcim.

3. United States of America

The United States has a large and well-established cement production base of 120.5Mt/yr in 2017. The USGS states that the US produced 82.9Mt of cement in 2016 from a clinker capacity of 109Mt/yr. The vast bulk is from the country’s 97 integrated facilities, two fewer than a year earlier due to continued consolidation.

The US cement market is dominated by multinational producers such as LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement, Cemex, CRH and Buzzi Unicem, although some operate through US-branded legacy names such as Essroc (HeidelbergCement). Despite an historic bias towards domestically-owned producers, the US will shortly have none. The last remaining such company, Ash Grove Cement, is to be sold to CRH for US$3.5bn before the end of the first quarter of 2018.

4. Russia

Russia has 114.4Mt/yr of cement capacity, according to the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. According to the USGS, Russia produced 56Mt/yr of cement in 2016, 10.8% down from 62.1Mt in 2015.

The largest producer in the Russian cement market is home-grown Eurocement. A large number of other local producers also operate, as do selected multinationals such as HeidelbergCement and LafargeHolcim.

5. Vietnam

Vietnam was the fifth-largest cement-producing country in 2017 by installed cement capacity, with a total capacity of 113.8Mt/yr. It has 65 active integrated plants and 14 grinding plants. As elsewhere in the Top 10, domestic players dominate the sector. In almost all cases in Vietnam, cement plants are owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the government.

The country has a centrally-planned economy, which has struggled to make use of its full cement capacity. This has led to the cancellation of new projects, although some have continued to press ahead despite controversy. A common way to remove the excess capacity has been via exports. Indeed, Vietnam is now one of the most prolific cement exporting countries worldwide. It sold 64.6Mt of cement in the first 10 months of 2017, a rise of 4% year-on-year compared to the same period of 2016, according to the Ministry of Construction. Of the sum, 49.3Mt was sold domestically, a 2% year-on-year rise, while 15.3Mt was exported, a rise of 2%. As of October 2017, Vietnam had 3.3Mt of cement and clinker inventory, mostly clinker.

At present, Vietnam’s cement output has reached 86Mt/yr, while domestic demand is estimated at only 60Mt/yr. The country is therefore facing a surplus of 26Mt of cement overall in 2017, according to the Vietnam Cement Association (VNCA).

6. Brazil

Brazil’s cement sector grew rapidly during the 2000s but has since stopped growing due to its stagnant economy. The cement sector remains large, with 92.9Mt/yr of installed capacity across 75 facilities and a further >11.6Mt/yr from 19 active grinding plants giving a total capacity of 104.5Mt/yr. Production is split between a mixture of local / regional cement producers such as Votorantim and InterCement, smaller domestic players and multinational producers. In 2016 the USGS stated that the country produced 60Mt of cement, suggesting a capacity utilisation rate of around 65%.

7. Turkey

Turkey was the seventh-largest cement producing country by installed capacity in 2017, according to the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. Turkey has 52 active integrated cement plants and 95.6Mt/yr of production capacity, according to the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. A further four integrated plants are under construction and five others are undergoing expansion, one of which is being relocated. Turkey also has 16 active grinding plants with >8Mt/yr of grinding capacity. (The production capacities of some of the grinding plants is unavailable.) The Turkish Cement Manufacturers’ Association (TCMA) claims that Turkey had a total cement capacity of 132Mt/yr in 2016.

Turkish anti-monopoly laws mean that the cement sector has an unusually high number of participants. Most producers are Turkish, although HeidelbergCement, LafargeHolcim and Votorantim are among the multinational players that operate in the market.

8. Iran

Iran has a total cement capacity of 88.4Mt/yr across 72 active integrated plants. A further 15 are in various stages of construction or commissioning. The USGS states that Iran produced 53Mt of cement in 2016. The vast majority of plants are domestically-owned, as is typical in the region. However, unlike in some other countries, foreign investment has been further limited in the past due to US-led sanctions.

9. Indonesia

Indonesia has 19 active integrated cement plants that share 70.2Mt/yr of cement capacity, plus six grinding plants that contribute an additional 3.7Mt/yr. This gives an overall capacity of 73.9Mt/yr. Nine other integrated cement plants are in the process of being built or are planned to be built.The USGS states that Indonesia made 63Mt of cement in 2016.

10. Saudi Arabia

With a total cement capacity of 73.2Mt/yr, Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of cement in the Middle East. It has 21 active integrated cement plants and one grinding plant. The vast majority are locally-owned. The USGS states that Saudi Arabia produced 61Mt of cement in 2016.

Top 10 cement producers

The Top 10 global cement producers are shown in Table 1, ranked by total cement capacity in the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. The list excludes those from China, which are covered separately overleaf.

LafargeHolcim, the largest cement producer in the world by installed capacity, is also the youngest in the Top 10. It was formed in 2015 by combining the bulk of the assets held by the former multinational producers Lafarge and Holcim, both of which had a rich history in the sector.

The Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018 shows that LafargeHolcim has 149 integrated cement plants with a total capacity of 287.3Mt/yr, as well as 57.9Mt/yr of grinding capacity across 71 plants. This gives it a total of 220 plants and 345.2Mt/yr of cement capacity.

2. HeidelbergCement

Germany’s HeidelbergCement continued to acquire new capacity in 2017 following its major acquisition of Italcementi in 2016. It now boasts 159.3Mt/yr of cement capacity across 102 active integrated facilities and another 26.1Mt/yr from 39 active grinding plants. This gives it a total of 185.4Mt/yr of installed active cement capacity across 141 sites.

HeidelbergCement has started to build its sales revenue following the Italcementi acquisition, with growth in Europe and North America. Its sales rose by 19% year-on-year to Euro13bn in the first nine months of 2017 from Euro10.9bn in the same period of 2016. On a like-for-like basis this rose by 1.1%. Its cement and clinker sales volumes rose by 29.2% to 94.4Mt from 73Mt or by 0.3% on a like-for-like basis.

3. Cemex

Despite the growth of UltraTech Cement, Cemex has just held on to its third place position in this year’s Top 100 analysis. At the end of 2017 Cemex had a total of 91.6Mt/yr of cement capacity across 52 active integrated plants and nine active grinding plants. It has a total of 61 plants. Cemex has increased its profit in the third quarter of 2017 due to growing sales and low costs. Its net profit rose by 1% year-on-year to US$289m in the third quarter of 2017 from US$286m in the same period in 2016. Sales increased by 2% to US$3.5bn due to higher cement sales volumes in several markets and higher prices in Mexico and the US.

4. UltraTech Cement

With a total capacity of 91.4Mt/yr, UltraTech Cement is the largest Indian producer on the list. It has grown significantly since our previous Top 100 Report due to the acquisition of Jaiprakash Associates’ 21.1Mt/yr cement capacity in July 2017. It now has 18 integrated plants rather than 12 and 21 grinding plants rather than 16.

5. Votorantim

Brazil’s Votorantim has 43 integrated plants that share 60.2Mt/yr of cement capacity, plus 16 grinding plants that add another 10.6Mt/yr. This gives it 70.8Mt/yr of capacity across 59 sites.

6. InterCement

Number six on the list of top cement producers, InterCement has been buffeted by the poor state of its native Brazilian economy in the past few years. The company operates in Brazil, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Mozambique, Angola and Argentina, with 53.5Mt/yr of cement capacity across 28 active integrated and 14 active grinding plants.

7. CRH

CRH grew rapidly between 2015 and 2016 due to its acquisition of a range of assets from the merging Lafarge and Holcim. It has 50.5Mt/yr of cement production capacity across 39 integrated and 15 grinding plants.

CRH will become even larger in early 2018 when it completes its US$3.5bn acquisition of Ash Grove Cement in the United States. This will provide an additional eight integrated plants with 7.5Mt/yr of cement capacity. It has also submitted a formal offer for the cement assets of South Africa’s PPC.

8. Buzzi Unicem

Italy’s Buzzi Unicem is the only family-owned cement producer on the list. It has 49.2Mt/yr of cement capacity, with production interests in nine countries in Europe and North America.

9. Eurocement

Eurocement is predominantly based in its home nation of Russia, although it also operates in Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It has a total capacity of 47.2Mt/yr, entirely from integrated capacity.

10. Dangote Cement

Nigeria’s Dangote Cement is Africa’s largest home-grown cement producer. It now has a total of 43.8Mt/yr of integrated and grinding cement capacity at 10 integrated plants and two grinding plants in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Cameroon and Ghana.

A note on China

China has by far the largest cement capacity of any nation on Earth. It has some of the largest cement producers and plants, although the difficulty of obtaining reliable data from China means that capacity figures vary widely. We present the Global Cement Directory 2018 figures for the four largest producers below.

Anhui Conch was the largest Chinese cement producer in 2017 with 32 cement plants and 217.2Mt/yr of cement production capacity, It is smaller than LafargeHolcim but larger than HeidelbergCement. As well as China it currently has projects in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia.

China National Building Materials (CNBM) was the second-largest Chinese cement producer in 2017, with 94 cement plants and 176.2Mt/yr of cement capacity. It is smaller than HeidelbergCement but larger than Cemex. It is in the process of merging with its engineering arm Sinoma.

In 2017 China Resources operated 42 clinker production lines and 91 grinding plants across seven Chinese Provinces, predominantly in the far south and north east of the country. With a total capacity of 79.3Mt/yr, it is smaller than Cemex and UltraTech Cement.

Taiwan Cement is the fourth-largest Chinese cement producer with around 69Mt/yr of cement capacity.

Cement producers 11 - 100

The cement producers that rank 11th to 20th according to integrated capacity in the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018 are shown in Table 2, along with their total cement capacities and numbers of plants. The remainder of the Top 100 is shown in Table 3. The capacities of these will be shown in the full Global Cement Top 100 Report, when it is released in 2018.

Above - Table 3: Cement producers ranked 21-100, according to the integrated cement capacity shown in the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018. *Ash Grove Cement will be acquired by CRH in 2018.

Cement producers 101 - 574

The remainder of the global cement producers will also be listed in the Global Cement Top 100 Report. The smallest integrated players, 565 - 574 are shown in Table 4. These ‘Bottom 10’ have just 0.59Mt/yr between them, compared to the more than 1Bnt/yr of the Top 10.

A breakdown of how cement capacity is spread among cement producers (integrated capacity only) is shown in Figures 2 & 3. While the Top 10 have around 1.01Bnt/yr of capacity, producers 11-20 have just 268.3Mt/yr. The next three groups of 10 have 132.1Mt/yr, 102.0Mt/yr and 82.9Mt/yr respectively. Producers 51-100 hold 286.6Mt/yr, with the remaining 474 producers holding just 643.8Mt/yr.

Rank

Producer

Total

Capacity (Mt/yr)

Plants

565

Empresa Minera Industrial

0.1

1

566

Fiji Industries

0.1

1

567

Arab Co for White Cement

0.1

1

568

Himal Cement

0.1

1

569

X18 Factory Cement

0.1

1

570

Jabal Saraj Cement

0.03

1

571

Keer

0.02

1

572

Maruti Cements

0.02

1

573

Objedinennie

0.01

1

574

Pancharatna

0.01

1

Above - Table 4: Cement producers ranked 565-574, according to the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018.

Global Cement Top 100 Report & Global Cement Directory 2018

The information in this summary has been obtained from the Beta version of the Global Cement Directory 2018, which is currently undergoing review by the industry prior to the publication of the final print version in early 2018.